SEIFA indexes are created by combining information selected from the Census. Each piece of information is first selected on the basis of a concept of relative socio-economic disadvantage; and then turned into a 'variable' which can be used in the index creation process. This chapter looks at the concept behind the indexes, how the information is selected and what a typical variable looks like. This chapter also looks briefly at principal components analysis.

This chapter brings together some of the major issues surrounding the use of SEIFA that were discussed in previous chapters. This chapter is intended to briefly provide more detail about the use of SEIFA, but is not intended to replace a proper technical understanding of analysis.